New Method to Motivate Participation in Daily Life/Everyday Life Activities Using Sensor-Based Smart Application Translating Intention into Action (TIA)

Background: We explored a new approach for increasing participation in daily life for individuals with severe movement impairments. The core of the approach is an application designed to Translate Intentions into Action (TIA) as a motivational tool for both leisure and clinical training sessions. Methods: The TIA application was developed to enable users to activate motivational feedback, like sounds, music, or videos, through movement measured with an IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit). IMUs were calibrated to user-specific thresholds based on individual movement potential. TIA was tested in two different age groups to assess applicability throughout lifespan and across different motor capacities. Results: The results indicated that TIA can be used for improved participation when positive feedback is provided during the intervention sessions. Observations demonstrated that regardless of age and motor capabilities, increased participation was achieved. TIA demonstrated the far-reaching potential to enhance the engagement and motivation of individuals with different levels of severe disabilities. Conclusions: By providing personalized, positive feedback through movement-activated outputs, TIA can be used by a wide range of people, with or without motor disabilities, to control digital outputs, such as video and audio. These findings suggest that TIA can be a valuable tool in both clinical and leisure settings to promote meaningful participation in activities.